Using the Dice Roller

Dice Basics

Since dice are an essential part of many RPG systems, we have fully implemented an advanced dice roller on Myth-Weavers. Due to this, dice rolls can placed anywhere in any post, even interwoven with in-game text.

Summary

If you're familiar with rolling dice for tabletop RPGs, this should be easy. Just type in whatever you want to roll and then put [DICE] and [/DICE] tags around it. For example, [DICE]1d20+1[/DICE] turns into:

Note that the roll box only appears when you move your mouse over the image of the die.

It's as easy as that. The and buttons on the post editing tools can do the same thing. Of course, there are many more options for advanced rolling, as well as an explanation of basic dice syntax for those completely new to dice-rolling.

Basic Syntax

This refers to the proper way to type out a dice roll at Myth-Weavers, regardless of the way it is finally displayed. This is a review for those not familiar with standard dice notation used in most RPGs.

Number of Dice d Number of Sides + Modifier

(Number of Dice) – This represents the number of dice being rolled of the same type. For example, if you are rolling two standard 6-sided dice, the number placed at the beginning of the sequence will be 2.

NOTE: It is always necessary to include a number of dice being rolled, even if that number is "1". This number must be an integer.

d – The letter “dee” is simply an abbreviation that represents the word die/dice. It is always necessary to include "d" in any dice roll.

(Number of Sides) – This represents the number of sides on each of the dice being rolled. For example. if you’re rolling a 20-sided die, 20 would be the number you place here, after "d". Including the number of sides of the dice rolled is always necessary.

(+ Modifier) – A modifier is optional. This is where you can add or subtract a number from the result of the dice rolled. Only "+" or "-" can be used, and no spaces are necessary. You can only have one modifier per online dice roll. If your "actual" roll has several bonuses and penalties, sum them up and put the resulting modifier here.

Here are few examples of what you’ve just learned:

1d6 ... means... "Roll one six-sided die."

3d20 ... means... "Roll three twenty-sided dice."

2d12+6 ... means... "Roll two twelve-sided dice and then add 6 to the result."

5d4-3 ... means... "Roll five four-sided dice and then subtract three from the result."

Preventing Cheating

In order to prevent cheating, the dice here are programmed to show a big, highlighted warning if anyone tampers with the results or presentation of the rolls. These are the conditions that will cause a warning to appear.

Altering the order of dice in a post.

Editing the dice in a dice string.

Adding new dice strings before or between existing dice

Deleting already-rolled dice from a post.

If you accidentally cause a warning to occur, it can be fixed by returning the dice to their original order and contents, if possible. Conditions 2 and 3 above cannot be fixed completely. Many other dice rolling systems allow reposting deleted rolls in order to get a better result. This isn’t possible here. Dice roll results are always saved and deletion and then subsequent reposting of dice roll will simply lead to the same results.

Note that you can still go back and edit the text of a post without causing a warning, as long as you don't cause any changes in the dice.

Dice Tags Summary

Dice tags are the bits of BBCode that members can enter into their game posts to produce random dice rolls. Depending on which tags are used, a dice roll is presented in a different This article focuses on explaining the exact workings of the different tags available.

If you are unfamiliar with online dice, you should probably read the Dice Basics article first. If you're interested in finding out more about the different advanced options for the rolls themselves, check out the Advanced Dice Options help article.

Right now there are four major types of tags for rolling dice at Myth-Weavers.

[Dice] - The most basic, everything is shown in the post.

[Roll] - Text of your choosing is shown in the post, but when you move your mouse cursor over the text, the dice roll appears in a temporary hovering popup.

[SheetDice] (or [SD]) - Makes a roll type of your choice (like an attack or a check), automatically using info from your character sheet, and then displays it like a normal [Dice].

[SheetRoll] (or [SR]) - Makes a roll type of your choice (like an attack or a check), automatically using info from your character sheet, and then displays it like a normal [Roll].

SheetDice and SheetRoll are specialized enough that they have their own article, Sheet Dice Rolls. [Dice] and [Roll] are explained below.

[Dice] Tags

Dice Tags are very easy to use and produce clear outputs. Here is how they are set up.

[dice=Custom Title]Dice Roll[/dice]

dice - Dice Tags consist of an opening tag placed in front of the dice roll and closing tag (which always includes a slash) placed after the dice roll. Note: No spaces are allowed inbetween the tag brackets and the dice roll itself.

Custom Title – This part is optional, including the "=" sign. If used, whatever is entered after the "=" becomes the visible title for the roll.

Example without a custom title: [dice]1d20+5[/dice]
Example with a custom title: [dice=Spot Check]1d20+5[/dice]

Once the dice rolls placed inside Dice Tags are posted, they are transformed into a framed box showing your custom title (if any), the type of dice roll, the individual dice results, and the total result (after all of the advanced options are inlcuded).

It is possible to put several different dice rolls inside a single set of Dice Tags. To do this, individual dice rolls must be separated by a space. You cannot, however, add multiple different dice together.

Example: [dice]1d20+5 1d20+4 1d20+3 1d20+2 1d20+1[/dice]

In order to quickly insert Dice Tags, you can use the following icon located on the top tool bar in both the ‘Quick Reply’ box and ‘Advanced Reply’ box.

[Roll] Tags

One of the most unique features you will find on MW is our pop-up dice roll using Roll Tags. This feature can be used by players and DMs to make in-game dice rolls without disrupting the flow of the text. This is the structure of the command:

[roll=Text;Custom Title]Dice rolls[/roll]

When you look at the syntax above, you can observe that it is a bit different than the dice tags. Let’s examine each section separately.

roll - Note that ‘dice’ is replaced with ‘roll’ in both beginning and closing tags.

Text – This is the text in your post that will link to the popup dice roll. (See the screenshot below)

Custom Title – This part is optional, and can be used to create a title inside of the popup. When you want a custom title, don't forget to include a semicolon [;] after the 'Text' section.

Lets use the following example:

Bob [roll=hits;Damage]1d20[/roll] the hill giant with a walking stick.

In post, this will take this form:

To see the Dice Roll, all you need to do is hover your mouse over the small dice icon or the linked words. Clicking on the text is not necessary.

Roll tags can be easily accessed from top tool bar in the ‘Advanced Reply’ box by clicking on the icon showing a six-sided die behind a red "R".

Using Symbols In Roll Text: Some standard symbols are part of the dice roller's syntax, and thus cannot be used in roll text. You cannot use the following symbols: ampersand (&), semicolon (;), less-than (<), greater-than (>), or quotation marks ("). Apostrophes (') are still acceptable.

Advanced Dice Options

These are the advanced options for rolling dice at Myth-Weavers. If you're new here, make certain you read the Dice Basics help article first before jumping in here. If you are looking for the different ways to display dice rolls, check out the Dice Tag Summary article as well.

All of the options here are just that -- optional. You can probably get by just using the basic dice for everything, but these options can help automate and speed your games along if you're willing to take the time to learn how to use them.

With the exception of the "repeat rolls" option, all of these options are added after the basic XdY+Z part of the roll, and can be added in any order. If the option requires a number and none is provided, the system will treat it as if a "1" had been used.

Also, you can use multiple options at the same time.

Here is a basic list of the available advanced dice options, explained in more detail below.

Repeat Rolls - Number m - Repeats the same roll "number" times.

Drop Dice - v Number - Drops the lowest "number" of dice in a roll.

Keep Dice - ^ Number - Keeps the highest "number" of dice in a roll.

Keep Lowest Dice - k Number - Keeps the lowest "number" of dice in a roll.

Reroll Dice - r Number - Rerolls any dice that come up equal to or lower than "number."

Multiply Total - * Number - Multiplies the dice total by "number"

Divide Total - / Number - Divides the dice total by "number"

Result-Dependent Text - q Number - Changes what text is shown for a [Roll] depending on whether the total is "number" or higher.

Exploding - e - Adds an extra dice every time a die comes up as the maximum.

Success-Counting - s Number - Counts as successes the number of dice that land equal to or higher than "number."

Success-Canceling - c - Cancels out a success every time a die lands on "1" (the minimum).

Bonus Successes - a - Adds a success every time a die lands on the maximum for that dice type.

Sum Total - (All Dice)t - Adds the sum of all dice together.

Show result in title - z - Only for roll tags, includes the result in the title of the roll. Must appear at end of dice string

Under success counting - u- counts how many steps of 10 (for 1d100) or 5 (for d20) or 1 (any other die) the result is compared to the threshold

Sort - o - sorts the dice from lowest to highest

A note on abbreviations -- For the sake of clarity in the following option explanations, the basic dice syntax of Number of Dice(x) d Number of Sides(y) + Modifier will be simplified just to XdY.

Repeated Roll Sets

This option allows you to roll multiple versions of the same dice-roll setup. This includes repeating all other advanced options for each version of the roll. The only difference between rolls sets will be how the dice themselves randomly turn out.

NumbermXdY

Numberm – In this case ‘number’ represents the number of times you would like to repeat the following roll.

Multiply or Divide Total

This option allows you to multiply or divide the result of roll, after all other modifications, by a set number. This number can be any number in decimal format, not just integers.

XdY*Number

Number – In this case ‘number’ represents the number you want to multiply the dice results by. You can replace *Number with /Number if you wish to divide the dice results instead.

This option takes the place of the (+ or - Modifier) basic syntax, so you cannot use + or - in conjunction with * or /

Example 1: 4d6*1.5 ... means... "Roll four 6-sided dice, and then multiply the result by 1.5."

Example 2: 3d20*0.75 ... means... "Roll three 20-sided dice, and then multiply the result by 0.75."

Example 3: 4d6/1.5 ... means... "Roll four 6-sided dice, and then divide the result by 1.5."

Example 4: 3d20/0.75 ... means... "Roll three 20-sided dice, and then divide the result by 0.75."

Exploding Rolls

This option causes the dice roller to roll an extra die whenever a die in your normal roll lands as the maximum for that dice type. For example, if you roll "10" on a ten-sided dice, this option will automatically roll you another 10-sided dice. If the extra dice rolled come up as the maximum, they also add an extra die.

XdY+ZeN

e - Does not require any associated number (in which case the highest number on the dice is the default). A target can be provided.

Example 1: 1d20e ... means ... "Roll one twenty sided die, and if it comes up as "20," roll another twenty-sided die."

Example 2: 4d10e .... means... "Roll four ten-sided dice, and whenever any of them come up "10," roll another ten-sided die."

Example 3: 3d10e8 ... means ... "Roll 3 ten-sided dice, and whenever any of them come up 8 or higher, roll another

Success-Counting

This option will count the number of dice in a roll that meet or exceed a set number. If you are adding a modifier (e.g. +A or -B) to the roll, the modifier will be added to each individual die in a roll to see if they meet the success-number.

XdYsNumber

sNumber – In this case ‘number’ represents the number that the dice have to be equal to or greater than to count as a success.

Example 1: 4d10s7 ... means... "Roll four 10-sided dice, and count the number of times a die lands as 7 or higher.

Example 2: 5d100s75 ... means... "Roll five 100-sided dice, and count the number of times the a die is 75 or higher."

Example 3: 3d10+1s9 ... means... "Roll three ten-sided dice. If any one of those results plus one is equal to or greater than 9, count it as a success."

Canceling Successes

This option causes a roll of the minimum on a die to cancel out a success. This can result in negative successes if there are more cancels than successes. Naturally, this option only works in combination with the success-counting option, explained above.

XdYsNumberc

c - Does not require any associated number.

Example 1: 4d10s7c ... means... "Roll four 10-sided dice, and count the number of times a die lands as 7 or higher. If a die lands as "1," remove a success."

Example 2: 5d100s75c ... means... "Roll five 100-sided dice, and count the number of times the a die is 75 or higher. If a die lands as "1," remove a success."

Example 3: 3d10+1s9c ... means... "Roll three ten-sided dice. If any one of those results plus one is equal to or greater than 9, count it as a success. If a die lands as "1," remove a success."

Adding Bonus Successes

This option causes a roll of the maximum on a die to add an extra success. Naturally, this option only works in combination with the success-counting option, explained above.
XdYsNumbera

a - Does not require any associated number.

Example 1: 4d10s7a ... means... "Roll four 10-sided dice, and count the number of times a die lands as 7 or higher. If a die lands as "10," add an extra success."

Example 2: 5d100s75a ... means... "Roll five 100-sided dice, and count the number of times the a die is 75 or higher. If a die lands as "100," add an extra success."

Example 3: 4d10s7ac ... means "Roll four 10-sided dice, and count the number of times a die comes out 7 or higher. If a die lands as "10," add an extra success. If a die lands as "1," remove a success.

Result-Checking Roll Text

This option checks to see whether the roll meets or is less than a given number, and then picks between two sets of text to display. This option only works for the [Roll] tag, described in the dice tag summary article.

qNumber – If the dice roll total is greater than or equal to ‘number,’ the roll counts as a "pass" result, and the "pass message text" is displayed. If the roll total is less than 'number,' the roll counts as a "fail" result and the "fail message text" is displayed.

For example, a character trying to attack something may want a different message to appear for the roll depending on whether or not it hit. In this example, the target number is 17.

Show Result

This option shows the result of a roll (not dice) in the title, so a mouse over is not needed. The z must appear at the end of the flag list, and can be included in more than one dice within a roll tag.

For example, "Bob [roll=attacks]1d20+4z[/roll] the troll" would show as
Bob attacks (16) the troll (assuming the result was a 16)

Under Success

Counts how many steps of 10 (for 1d100) or 5 (for d20 ) or 1 (any other die) the result is compared to the threshold.

Example: 1d100u50 would give a result of "1 success" for any value 40-50 2 successes for 30-39, 3 success for 20-29 etc. It will also give 1 failure for 51-60, etc.

Sheet Dice Rolls

This feature allows players to roll dice for their characters in a post without having to check their character sheets. The sheet dice feature automatically finds the right bonus for the type of roll you request and rolls the dice for your character. If you want to learn how to manually create rolls, check out the Dice Basics article first.

Summary

In the simplest form, it looks like this:

[SHEETDICE=RollType][/SHEETDICE] or [SHEETROLL=RollType;Text][/SHEETROLL]

Right now, this works for the following roll types on D20 type sheets:

Any of the ability scores. A basic ability check is rolled.

str (Strength)

dex (Dexterity)

con (Constitution)

int (Intelligence)

wis (Wisdom)

cha (Charisma)

init (Initiative)

The saving throws

ref (Reflex)

for (Fortitude)

will (Will)

Any skill check, by the full name of the skill.

If you want to make custom d20 checks, you can fill in one of the blank skill sections with any name and modifier you want.

An attack with a weapon, w. You also need to specify which weapon slot number, (1, 2, or 3), and whether the attack is a standard attack, s, or a full attack, f. For full attacks to work properly, the attack values must be separated by slashes, like: 12/7. It also rolls damage for you.

Example 1: w1s ... means... "a standard attack with weapon 1."

Example 2: w2f ... means ... "a full attack with weapon 2."

For 4e, w#s refers to the Quick Look Up boxes.

As explained in the "Dice Tag Summary" explanation article, the "DICE" tag version puts the dice right into the post, while the "ROLL" tag version makes the dice hidden until someone puts the mouse cursor over the chosen text.

In order to use this feature, you must have made a character sheet and then applied it to a game. The sheetrolls only work in the game forum(s) that a character has been applied to. For more information on how to apply a character to a game, see the character sheet help article. The [SHEETDICE][/SHEETDICE] parts of the tags can be shortened to [SD][/SD] and the [SHEETROLL] and [/SHEETROLL] tags can be shortened to [SR] and [/SR]

GMs

If a GM uses a sheet-rolling dice tag in a game, it will roll that check for all of the characters in the game. This makes it easy to quickly determine the success or failure of a given roll for a whole group of characters. For example, this could be used to see which party members succeed on a Will saving throw or a Listen check without having to go back and check every one of the character sheets or the GM screen.

Alternatively, a GM can use the CharacterNumber option (see full syntax below) to roll for only a specific character. The GM can also roll for more than one character by separating each Sheet ID Number with a comma.

The Full Syntax

[SHEETROLL=CharacterNumber;RollType;Text]Modifier[/SHEETROLL]

The syntax is the same for [SheetDice], except for the fact that the Text section is unused.

CharacterNumber: This is only needed if you have more than one character in a game. If you do, check the Sheet ID Number of the characters by opening up their sheets and looking at their URL. The last number you see is the Sheet ID Number. The character with the lowest sheet ID number is #1, the second-lowest sheet ID number is #2, and so on. To specify a character for your sheet roll, enter in its number in this order.

Example: If you have two character sheets in a game and their Sheet IDs are 4576 and 5033, then "1" would refer to 4576 and "2" to 5033.

RollType: As described above, this is what type of roll you want to make.

Text: For a sheetroll, this is the text that appears in the body of your post. To see the roll, move the cursor over this text.

Modifier: This optional amount is added to the final result of the dice roll. This is useful for temporary or situational modifications to a roll. It can be positive (a bonus) or negative (a penalty).

Example: A GM might give party members a -2 penalty on a group listen check by including a "-2" in this area.

For weapon attacks, the Modifier section is broken into three separate parts, separated by spaces.

AttackRollModifier DamageRollModifier BonusDamageDice

For example, a character wanting to attack with his second weapon,
Assuming a normal attack bonus of +15, and normal damage of 2d6+4
a greatsword, and add some bonuses and extra damage dice (perhaps from a special ability like sneak attack), he could type:

[SHEETDICE=w2s]2 3 5d6[/SHEETDICE]

And get...

Fudge Dice Rolls

With Fudge and Fate becoming increasingly popular, we have implemented a fudge roller. A single fudge die will output -1, 0, or 1. The standard game roll uses four dice. Doing so on MythWeavers is relatively simple.

The Code:
[dice]#dF[/dice]

= The number of Fudge dice you want rolled. In most cases, this is four.

F = Fudge dice indicator. You must capitalize the "F" ,in order for the Fudge code to work.

Options:

[dice] and [roll] tags work interchangeably, as with regular dice.

You may use the multi-roll variable (m), as explained in the advanced dice section.

Standard mathematical modifiers, such as 4dF+2, 4dF*2, or 4dF-2 also function as normal.

Because rerolls or dropped low dice normally do not apply to Fudge dice, those advanced variations(r & v) do not apply to Fudge dice (they don't work).